Saturday 14 May 2022

Wishing Wisely

 

I was walking down the park on my way home when I noticed an empty bottle of lemonade or orange juice on the path ahead. It was only a few feet away from a litter bin. Some people are so lazy and untidy. They could have thrown it in the bin. I picked the bottle up and as I placed it in the trash bin there was a massive puff of smoke and a genie appeared.

I nearly pooped myself. It is not everyday one sees a genie come out of an empty orangeade bottle. Or any bottle for that matter. I can't remember the last time I saw a genie. I know ... ... ... never!

After his usual salutations and bowing down in respect for me, the genie said, "I am your obedient servant Master. For freeing me from that bottle of mouldy drink remains I now grant you four wishes!"

"You mean three wishes!" I corrected.

"Have you not heard of inflation?" he asked, "you now have four wishes to command me and I to grant you oh wise and masterful Master!"

At that point I noticed Rupert walking towards us. He is an acquaintance of mine who, quite honestly, I don't like very much. Nothing personal. I just don't get on with him because I find him patronising with his "know-it-all" attitude.

Right now he was as welcome as a fart in a space suit. "I wish he was not here," I thought silently.

Suddenly, Rupert vanished. One moment he was walking towards us. The next he vanished in a puff of smoke. 

"You now have three wishes, Master!" said the genie.

"What the ... What happened there?" I asked.

"I read your mind, Master," declared the genie, "you wished that person gone and now he is begone!"

"Where ... where is he gone?" I mumbled.

"Do not worry, Master," said the now-becoming-annoying genie, "it is of no concern of yours. That man will no longer bother you again. He is removed from your surrounding environment for ever!"

I felt terrible. Guilty and panicked at the same time and in no particular order. Rupert is gone. What will I tell his wife and family? Do I even bother to tell them and keep the secret to myself for ever? What a heavy weight on my conscience. I willed a man to disappear and now he is gone. I did not really mean it. I know he was a pain in the neck working his way down South. But I did not mean him to just vanish. Gone for ever. I wished I could reverse that wish!

Suddenly, Rupert appeared again in yet another puff of smoke.

"You now have two wishes, Master," said the annoying genie.

Oh how glad I was to see Rupert again. Annoying and patronising as he is. At least he is now alive again and well. I'm sure he is a good man really and I'd get on better with him if he was a little less condescending. 

Perhaps it's me, I thought. Maybe I am a little intolerant and I should be kinder, gentler and a better person. I wish I was a little nicer to other people.

There was yet another puff of smoke and the genie said, "You now have one last remaining wish, Master!"

By this time the annoying wish-maker was becoming rather irritating and unthinking I thought in my mind, "I wish this genie would shut up and go away."

And with a final puff of smoke the genie was gone!

And the moral of the story is: DO NOT PICK UP LITTER FROM THE GROUND 

 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12)

17 comments:

  1. See your out about modelling again Victor...! :).

    I was walking into town earlier, and at the bottom
    of the hill, along side a fence was a white Carnation
    flower, a discarded button~hole by the looks of it.....
    I thought if it's still there on the way back, l'll take
    it home...Sure enough, it was, it is now sitting in a
    glass of water in the kitchen, looking quite nice...!

    I was gonna say, l do pick up the oddest things,
    you should have seen some of the 'ladies' l've
    been out with...but, that's another story...! :(.

    A genie granted me one wish, so I said
    "I just want to be happy."
    Now I'm living in a cottage with 6 dwarves and
    working in a mine...:).

    An old woman is sitting on her porch when
    a genie appears..
    "You get one wish" he is straight to the point,
    woman thinks about it but she is content with
    her life..
    Just that moment her cat strolls by...
    With a mischievous smile she tells genie she
    wants her cat turned into handsome man...
    "Done" genie says and vanishes...
    And true to his word instead of a cat there is a
    really good looking man standing on the porch..
    Woman gives him an appreciative look and he
    smiles, leans and whispers in her ear......
    "I bet you wish now you haven't had me neutered."..! :0
    😼 🐾🐾 😼 🐾🐾 😼 🐾🐾 😼 🐾🐾 😼 🐾🐾

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for cheering me up, Willie. Great jokes. I liked the one about the dwarf. Great punchline.

      God bless always.

      Delete
  2. ...always be careful of what you wish for.

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  3. We should all be careful about what we wish for, Victor.
    Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dearest Victor,
    Haha, not litter but maybe indeed we ought to control our thoughts more carefully!
    Sometimes it could be hilarious...
    Hugs,
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you got the point I was making, Mariette. Often our thoughts are so quick and not always the right ones.

      God bless you and Pieter.

      Delete
  5. Loved the inflation–related 4th wish...😜

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Inflation increases both costs and wishes these days.

      God bless always and even more.

      Delete
  6. Good lesson there, amongst the hilarity. Yes, my mother always cautioned me to be careful what I wished for -- I might just get it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was going to say the same thing. : )

      Delete
    2. Often our thoughts are so quick to come to mind that we do not realise what we are wishing for.

      God bless you Mevely and Happyone.

      Delete
  7. Sometimes it's not easy and you have to choose to love people as He tells us to.

    ReplyDelete

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